Mumbai: 21 sailors of Indian Navy test positive for coronavirus; Western Naval Command under watch

In a concerning development, 21 sailors of the Indian Navy on Saturday tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection within the Western Naval Command premises in Mumbai. Among the personnel, 20 of them are sailors of the INS Angre (also known as Naval Barracks), a shore-based establishment in Mumbai that provides logistical and administrative support to naval operations of the Western Naval Command.

Notably, this is the first reported case of a moderate-scale COVID-19 infection amid the ranks of the naval branch of the Indian Armed Forces. A statement by the Indian Navy informed that most of the sailors who tested positive for coronavirus were, in fact, asymptomatic and that the cases have been traced to a single sailor who had tested positive for the virus on April 7.

After the sailors tested positive for COVID-19, the entire inliving block was "immediately put under quarantine, containment zone & INS Angre under lockdown," the Indian Navy statement informed, adding that "action is being taken as per established protocol". No cases of infection have been detected onboard ships and submarines, it was said.

All primary contacts (though asymptomatic) were tested for #COVID19. The entire inliving block was immediately put under quarantine, containment zone & INS Angre under lockdown. Action being taken as per established protocol. No cases of infection onboard ships & submarines: Navy https://t.co/RX0BnbJAw1

— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2020

Subsequent reports informed that an operation is on to trace the people who may have come in contact with the infected sailors. The INS Angre is situated merely a few hundred metres away from the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, which houses the bulk of the sword arm of the Western Naval Command including its warships and submarines, a report informed, adding that the INS Angre is like a "mothership" which supervises the functioning of the naval command.

As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak continues to spread like wildfire across India, the state of Maharashtra has emerged as the epicenter of coronavirus spread as it became the first state to cross over 3,000 positive cases of COVID-19 in the country. The case tally in Maharashtra currently stands at 3,320.

The state has reported 118 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths today, out of which five deaths were in Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, which has emerged as the hotbed of the coronavirus spread in the state.

According to the Maharashtra Health Department, a total of 122 people have died and around 2,085 people have been found COVID-19 positive in Mumbai so far. Around 332 patients have also been cured or discharged from medical centres after treatment.

The biggest challenge in Mumbai is containing the spread of coronavirus in Dharavi, considered one of the largest slums in the world.

The Mumbai Police had last Sunday barricaded the Dharavi area in the city amid rising coronavirus cases from the locality. Police personnel were also deployed in the area to keep a watch on the movement of people.

It is to be noted that Dharavi is a densely populated slum in Mumbai with over 15 lakh people, spread over 613 hectares. Many media reports claim that social distancing in such a densely populated slum is unthinkable. On an average, five to eight people share a 100 sq ft of room in this region. According to the guidelines of social distancing set by WHO, one person should get to stay a minimum of 20 sq ft of the area but in Dharavi, it is less than 10 sq ft.

But even outside of Dharavi, the city of Mumbai remains adversely affected by the virus outbreak. New cases of COVID-19 affected individuals are being reported from the Dadar area in South Mumbai.